The Toronto Tempo will play their first-ever game on May 8, 2026, at Coca-Cola Coliseum in Toronto. The news comes as part of their full season schedule drop, as the entire WNBA announces a 44-game 2026 season. Yet, as exciting as this news is, it still comes with a lot of question marks. The WNBA still has yet to come to terms on a Collective Bargaining Agreement, meaning the 2026 season is yet to be guaranteed.
Due to things like the need to start selling tickets, securing bookings for travel, arenas,
and logistics, there was a need to make this happen on the league side. So, as exciting as this is, especially for Tempo fans and Canadian WNBA fans, take it with a grain of salt. There has been little news on the state of WNBA negotiations, and the league and players seem to disagree on basically every public negotiation point so far.
Disclaimer aside, the Toronto Tempo’s opening year has a lot of exciting things in store. Their first game is at home and is one of the first games of the WNBA’s 30th season, on opening night. As previously announced, the WNBA will play two home games in Vancouver, those are scheduled on Aug. 21 (vs the Portland Fire) and 23 (vs the Las Vegas Aces). The Tempo also announced two home games in Montreal last year, which are on July 10 (vs the Dallas Wings) and 12 (vs the New York Liberty).
Those Montreal games have the potential to break single-game WNBA attendance records, as well. The Bell Centre lists its basketball capacity at just over 22,000, and the current WNBA record is 20, 711, set at an Indiana Fever vs Washington Mystics game in 2024.
The Tempo will also play three home games at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, the home of the Toronto Raptors and Toronto Maple Leafs. Those games are on June 27 (vs the Phoenix Mercury), July 30 (vs the Minnesota Lynx) and August 18 (vs the Indiana Fever).
The rest of Toronto’s home games will be played at Coca-Cola Coliseum, their primary home venue. While that arena holds just over 8,000 fans, all of the other arenas they will play home games in have capacities of 19,000 and above.
There will also be a break in the WNBA season from Aug. 31 to Sept. 16, as the FIBA World Cup takes place in Germany. Most of the WNBA’s players will likely be leaving their club teams to go play for their international federations, something that is a big priority for most of these players.
After the FIBA break, the WNBA will come back and play one more week of the regular season before the playoffs start.
“Today’s schedule release marks another milestone in bringing Tempo basketball to life. Our inaugural season will showcase the energy, talent, and competitive spirit that this city deserves,” said Tempo General Manager Monica Wright Rogers in a press release. “We’re excited for fans across Canada to experience the WNBA in a brand-new way and to see our team take the floor in historic matchups throughout the league.”
Now, we wait to see when a resolution comes regarding the CBA negotiations.
The full Toronto Tempo schedule can be found here.
